It hasn't been just a few times, in the past two months, that I have lamented about not finding enough time to update my blog and make dinner menus. So, yesterday afternoon, during our weekly meeting, Bryan told me that he was taking the kids to town to go grocery shopping. He said "once I leave, you make the December menu and then email me the grocery list. Then you will have the rest of the day to work on your blog."
So this morning, I got the menu done, the grocery list sent...and here I sit (in the very quiet of my home) having finally condensed the last two months and over 500 pictures down to 51. This may very well be the record winner of longest posts I have ever posted (and definitely longest hiatus between). And, I am hoping it will remain my record winner for all time.
Sometimes days can go by, weeks even, that I don't give this blog much thought. Then, one day, I will find Myra scrolling through old posts...with her siblings by her side, laughing and reminiscing of days gone by and I get a huge lump in my throat, knowing I cannot give up.
So the lamenting starts up...and bless Bryan's heart for always trying to fix things for me. Sometimes, that is exactly what I need him to do.
So lets start in October, shall we?
General Conference is always like a breath of fresh air. It is a weekend that we all look forward to. McCoy exclaimed "why can't all holidays last for 2 days, and be twice a year, like Conference?" I am glad he thinks of General Conference as a holiday.
I think these little bags have a whole heckuva lot to do with that.
My brother Michael, and his family, joined us for the final session...and that made it all the more fun. Maisy loves Julianne and is thrilled when she comes to visit.
I have been having a few health troubles (nothing serious, mostly just blasted hormones) the past little while. So, Bryan and I have made several quick trips to town to visit a doctor and do some blood testing. When we returned home one day, Myra had everyone busily painting and decorating the pumpkins from our garden that have been patiently waiting in our pantry since May.
We've also spent a lot of time shoveling and moving rocks in our front circle area. It feels like it is the job that never ends....but we will keep at it, and we have hope that someday it will be as we imagine it.
Myra attended a Halloween party as a red crayon.
Well, to get technical the actual color is 'big dip o' ruby'.
In August, I got the crazy idea that I had a little extra time (probably from my lack of blogging). So I decided to join the local Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) camp. The Captain asked me to serve as her first assistant...and I said yes, because hey! my Stake girl's camp calling isn't busy in August and why not?! And then, I was asked to serve as the first counselor in my ward Relief Society in addition to my camp calling and....serves me right for being prideful about my discretionary time.
So...every year the Nevada DUP camps have several booths at the annual NevadaWeen Celebration at the Old Mormon Fort in Las Vegas. And, I was in charge of the button-spinner booth. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast at the Fort. (Bryan took these pictures).
Myles kept us loaded up on soup samples from the taster tables. Yum!
Visiting with my friend (and St Joe Camp Captain) Pam.
Maisy's dress is the one Grandma Castle made for Myra when she was 7. Yes, seven. Maisy is almost 4. Four?! Sigh.
And...here she is in all of her Rapunzel-esque glory.
And McCoy, as Spiderman...Halloween 2016.
Gosh dang...why do they grow so fast?!
Myles also wore his same "This is my Halloween Costume" shirt that he wears every year....
but for some (not so odd) reason, he didn't want to pose for pictures. But, believe me...it still fits him. I don't know how...but it does.
Oh yes, this was the day I got to meet the little lass that made me a great-aunt.
Missy and Oliver's baby Samantha Kate is just as precious as her mother was when I first met her.
Truly, I am getting old. I am just glad it's my sister that gets to experience all of this 'offspring moving out, getting married and having babies of their own', first. It is so funny that my sister, who is exactly 2 years older than me, is now a Granny. But she is doing a rock-star job of it, and I am holding my breath that I can be as graceful as she, when it is my turn.
And looky there...Grandpa got a new ride. This one is lovingly called the White Goose, by my kids.
Perhaps you recall the blue version,
HERE? Holy, Holy, Holy...how is it possible for time to be so slippery?!
Speaking of slippery time. This girl had a birthday. And her biggest wish was to have her pink room repainted and updated. So...a few days before her big day we went shopping, then spent a day painting and redecorating. It turned out just how she wanted.
Although, she wanted a big canvas photo on her wall of her and her lit'l sis. So we did a low-budget photo shoot...wherein Maisy hardly complied.
But, we did get a few super cute ones...
and this one (below) made Myra's final cut...in black and white.
On November 3rd, Myra's 14th birthday, she opened a few presents...as Maisy tried to tell her what was in them, before she could even get the wrapping off.
And then we prepared for her friend party. Myra had planned a Glow Party and invited some of her girl friends. We got glow sticks galore, Bryan replaced all the light-bulbs in our living room with black lights and we bought face paint that glowed under the black light.
Right before the party started, Maisy accidentally broke open a glow stick spilling the contents on the floor. So, Bryan thought it would be super cool to cut open glow sticks and shake them all over the house...and somehow, I was okay with it. Perhaps, it was the look of sheer enjoyment and excitement on my newly turned 14 year old's face? But, whatever the reason...I cut those bad-boys open with fervor and spread the glowing contents all over tarnation. When the girls showed up they said "Woah, it looks like a galaxy in here!" And then a couple of them got down on the floor and rolled around in the glow...as Myra tried to distract them with face paint. Ha!
She ended up succeeding. I wish the camera would have caught a better shot...but those girls were seriously glowing.
Then they did glowing limbo, glowing bowling, glowing wiggle car races, ate snacks and Myra opened their thoughtful gifts to her.
Then she blew out 14 candles...and they all went to jump on the trampoline. I kept my fingers crossed that the wind would die down so we could set off the 14 sky lanterns that we had purchased for the occasion...but it never did. I even made Bryan light one, to see if the wind would possibly not bother it...but no such luck. Darn. The party turned out to be a fun success, even so.
But, a couple of nights later as we sat out on the driveway in our easy chairs, waiting for the meteor shower to start, the night was still and I asked Bryan if we could try the lanterns again.
He lit one right there on our driveway, waited for the heat to make it rise and then let go.
It floated up, up, up and right into the tippy top of one of our pine trees. Of course, panic set in for Myles and I. Bryan grabbed a hose...but it could no way reach that high in our tree. Myles and I prayed like crazy...holding on to every last hope that we wouldn't have to call the fire department. And then, miracle of miracles...the fire just burned out. Call it what you will...luck, whatever. I know that it was a modern day miracle. I'm speaking from experience here. 😉
The night before Myra's birthday, I read her 'special book' to her. And I talked to her about the night she was born...and my feelings then, and my feelings now. We both had tears running down our cheeks as we reminisced of days gone by...and wonderful days to come. Golly, how I love being her mom.
I know I say it every time...but I think Myra is at my very favorite age, right now. I have thought it all the way through...during all of her 14 years. And I feel it about all 4 of my (not so) little ones. That's not to say there haven't been days (months, even) that I could rip my hair out because of their shenanigans. No, it just means they each have their own special way of filling my mother heart to overflowing, regardless of age. And this girl, being my first...is the first to show me that no matter how old she gets...no matter how grown-up she becomes...no matter how far she flies...I will keep on loving her, more than I ever thought possible. That is why 14 is my favorite age. And also 11, 6 and 3 -- presently. Because they are my favorite...and they always will be.
And then amidst all of the celebrating...this happened. Our little patriot, Myles, shamelessly wore his hat for the entirety of Election Day. Even when I warned him that it might not be the safest to go out in public donning it...he said it was his lucky hat, and he was proud to support Trump for President (notwithstanding all of the teaching we did along the way that Donald Trump is not a good role model when it comes to morality...and we do believe that Myles understands). We were all pleasantly surprised at the outcome of the elections and pray that our new President (elect) truly will be able to help make America great again.
And then we cheered for and celebrated our Veterans at our local Veterans Day Parade.
Myles marched with his fellow Boy Scouts...as he waved his flag high.
And then, that afternoon, we hosted my family for an early Thanksgiving Feast at our joint as everyone 'met in the middle'. How lucky for us to live in the middle.
Of course, the recent election results were hot topic.
But, so were the cute babies...the food...and everyone getting last minute family pictures taken by my talented oldest sister.
With our Castle folks living most of the time in St. George, while Grandpa continues his physical therapy and recovery from his stroke. Bryan has helped take care of the watering at the Castle. His dad told him that their two small 4-wheelers needed to be worked on and that if Bryan could fix them, we could ride them at our house. So, Bryan brought them over and checked them out. After replacing some old parts and getting a new battery and cleaning it up, the little red one is running nicely. Bryan has yet to get the black one running...and he thinks it might be unfixable. But, the kids have had a lot of fun riding around the field.
Oh, and me, too.
After what has seemed like an unusually warm fall, we finally decided the pomegranates were ready to harvest. We took a huge load to the juicers and they turned it into 30 gallons of juice. Then they gave us half...which we will turn into jelly. The circle of a pomegranates life. We would have had more...but a lot of the poms split and bugs got into them...
so we let these ladies do the juicing. They love poms as much as we do...and their eggs prove it.
We had a nice and quiet little Thanksgiving Day here at home, with just the 6 of us. We made, on a much smaller scale, all of the traditional Thanksgiving fixings...and as we ate we discussed each item on our table and where it came from and who we were thankful to because of it.
Maisy and I both came down with a little bug, and were feeling a bit dumpy for the holiday...so having it at home, with just our little family, worked out swell.
The next morning, everyone was up bright and early, anxious to start decorating for Christmas.
First things first, the boys unboxed and set up the tree.
Myra took charge of the ornament hanging...and saw it through to completion.
I only hung 2 ornaments on the entire tree...and it looks fantastic.
Maybe that's the key?!
Maisy took a long nap.
While Myles washed all of the rain gutters around the entire house, with a washcloth....and
only a smidgen of complaining.
And Bryan went behind him hanging Christmas lights.
Myra and I got all of our Christmas cards ready to mail...and drove to the post office and
dropped them in the slot.
Finally Maisy awoke and gave her approval of the finished Christmas tree.
That evening we watched It's A Wonderful Life, like we always do...and discussed some of the wonderful things we plan to do during this most glorious time of the year!
And that's a wrap!
Bring on December...
and the willpower to blog once a week, again!
Sending so much love to you and yours!!!
